St. John’s won its third straight game Friday night, but the way coach Steve Lavin described his team’s performance against Monmouth afterward, it felt like a loss.

The usually positive coach gave his team an “F” for its first-half effort in its ugly 64-54 victory over the middle-of-the-road MAAC program, Lavin said “defensively we were awful” and “we were a step slow the entire night.”

“There are a myriad of areas we need to sure up and improve,” Lavin said.

Lacking the energy and urgency befitting a regular-season game, and without a suspended Rysheed Jordan, St. John’s allowed Monmouth (1-3), which entered on a two-game losing streak and has a 16-point loss to Seton Hall on its resume, to hang around and even lead 40-38 with less than 12 minutes remaining.

The Red Storm (3-1) eventually created breathing room, putting together a 12-1 run. By the end of the spurt, spearheaded by Chris Obekpa blocks — he had nine on the night — and the Johnnies finally working the ball inside rather than settling for perimeter jump shots, St. John’s led 50-41 with 6:12 left. Monmouth wouldn’t go away, however, until D’Angelo Harrison sank back-to-back 3’s, the second giving St. John’ a 57-51 lead with 3:01 left.

Despite major foul trouble limiting his minutes, Harrison still scored 15 points, including eight clutch points in a row down the stretch.

“My teammates do a good job of finding me, but I live for those kind of moments,” Harrison said.

Still, the flaws are obvious: Monmouth doubled up St. John’s, 32-16, on points in the paint, out-rebounded them 44-35, and took six more free throws.